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Unit 2 · A short history of Cyrillic · Read
A short history of Cyrillic
Place modern Russian within the Cyrillic tradition.
Medieval Bulgaria, the pupils of Cyril and Methodius
Born in medieval Bulgaria
Cyrillic developed in medieval Bulgaria in the tradition of the students of Cyril and Methodius. Cyril and Methodius themselves are associated with the earlier Glagolitic alphabet.
Γ → ГΠ → П
Many Cyrillic letters draw on Greek shapes
Shapes from Greek
Many Cyrillic letter shapes draw heavily on Greek. That is why some letters look familiar even if you have never read Russian.
c. 900Early Cyrillic in Bulgaria
1918Russian spelling reform
TodayModern Russian print
Modern Russian print
Russian spelling changed in the 1918 reform. This course uses modern Russian print.
РусскийБългарски
Russian and Bulgarian: shared shapes, different sounds
One script, many languages
Bulgarian and other Cyrillic languages share shapes, but their letter values and pronunciation need their own recordings. Here, every sound is Russian.
Medieval Bulgaria, the pupils of Cyril and Methodius
LernLaterne